Monday, January 25, 2010

Great article in the Globe this weekend on the search for a new head of the Royal Ontario Museum. Written by Chris Nuttall-Smith, who was honoured at the National Magazine Awards last year for his Toronto Life feature about the ROM's problems, most of of the article focuses on ideas of what exhibitions should be, or how they should be designed. But there was some mention of access issues, to wit:

Dr. Colin Saldanha, a ROM trustee, said he doesn't care which field the winning candidate comes from. He wants his board colleagues to “think outside the box,” he said. “Nobody should be excluded. We want to see people presenting a vision, whoever you are. If your vision fits in with the vision of the board's strategic plan, then that's the kind of person that we need to hire.”

Saldanha, who runs a family practice clinic in Mississauga, said that many of the patients he sees – new immigrants who live outside the city core – haven't even heard of the ROM, much less visited it. He wants a new director who will make the museum, which charges $22 for adult admission, more affordable, and will reach out to ethnic and religious groups around the region. His hope: “A redefining of the term and concept of the museum,” he said. “It should be a centre for innovation, information, technology, all combined together within the grasp of the common man, the average Ontarian,” he said.

I do hope Dr. Saldanha finds some friends on the board who share his views.